Portuguese Laser Artists Opened a Cosmic Portal in a Parking Garage

Laser machines project an array of dynamic light patterns on to the walls of Silo-Auto.

Geometric laser projections of different shapes and grids are exhibited on the walls of the Silo-Auto car park for a new installation, Epicentro, by OpenField Creative Lab. The parking structure sits at the center of Porto, a coastal city in northwest Portugal approximately three hours from Lisbon by car. Silo-Auto itself is an example of brutalist architecture, a fortress-like style of design popular from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. It's become an iconic landmark for the city, so OpenField Creative Lab decided to create this installation to "transmit the pulse of everyday life," according to their description of the piece.

Founded by five local artists, OpenField Creative Lab is a small collective that explores the intersection between art and technology to create immersive experiences across different kinds of media. In Epicentro, their latest project, the artists set up rows of laser machines that project an array of dynamic light patterns that viewers can interact with. In addition to the light show, the Epicentro piece is augmented by a trip soundscape put together by the artists from the audio accrued from the parking lot over three separate sound-capture workshops. See it come to life in the images and video below: